Author Notes: First of Two
Well…
I must say that I enjoyed writing this, and I hope that you all enjoyed reading it. Above all, I want to thank everyone for the feedback I received. Chanson de Geste came out a much better story thanks to your critiques the last-minute edits that they inspired.
Since several reviewers mentioned that they had questions, I'm going to wait a little while to give everyone the chance to ask them. In a week or two, I'll post a longer author's note with answers, clarifications, and details that I left out of the story.
I can't guarantee comprehensiveness. Thanks in part to its two main characters, Chanson de Geste is an ambiguous story. Although the Just King was a little more flexible than the White Witch, neither Edmund nor Jadis was a model of honesty, emotional or otherwise. Worse, both had points of view that could careen from "opinionated" into dogmatic, and their views did not always reconcile. Since I don't want to rip apart either character's account of the Lone Islands' succession crisis, I'll probably confine some of my "answers" to my own impressions. Take it as an informed opinion.
…After all, if we really held 'canon' so sacred, what are we doing here?